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Bonita Lau
Following the trip, she received the Lee Guemple Award in Anthropology, which recognizes academic achievement and contributions to the department. “It prompted me to evaluate the impact I could have in my community and the contributions I could make in academic and applied roles,” Dharamshi said. When considering her undergraduate path, Dharamshi said “It’s perfectly ok to change your mind and pursue your passions. At the end of the day, you do your best work when you’re doing something you’re passionate about and that motivates you. At the beginning, I had this idea that’s there was only one way to be a success, but there are so many different ways to make an impact on the world – public policy is one important way, and social science can prepare you for that.”Following her education at Western, Bonita Lau worked as an education specialist for an educational technology company. In her role, Lau drew upon knowledge of human behaviour and how people learn, developed through her undergraduate degree in Psychology. She went back to school to complete a Master's in Education.
After being introduced to psychology in high school Lau chose to come to Western to continue exploring the discipline.
“I saw that Western offered a wide range of courses in the various branches of psychology,” said Lau.
“This was great for someone like me who was not sure which branch I was interested in yet.”
Lau majored in psychology and graduated with an Honours Bachelor of Arts. Upon graduation, Lau received the R. B. Liddy Gold Medal, awarded to the BA Honours student in Psychology with the highest graduating average.
Following her undergraduate education, she completed a degree in education. The combined degrees prepared her for work in different aspects of the education sector. She worked as an educator before joining an education technology company.
“My education at Western helped me develop transferable skills that I was able to apply to my career,” said Lau. “Even years after graduating, I still draw upon the research, communication, and critical thinking skills that I developed at Western.”
While her interest in psychology brought her to Western, the community drew her in and enhanced her experience.
“I decided to attend Western after speaking with my older sister. She attended Western and would tell me about how much she loved her courses and the campus. I visited the campus whenever we dropped her off, and I loved that it felt like a community,” said Lau.
“The best part of my time at Western was meeting and working with different people. Some of my closest friends today were people I met during courses and clubs,” said Lau. She served as an Off-Campus Soph and was part of Foot Patrol. She was also a social psychology lab assistant and manager.
“Joining these groups helped me better connect with Western’s community and definitely made my time there more memorable,” she said. “The most important lesson I learned was to challenge myself. Stepping out of my comfort zone to take on new challenges and experiences helped me grow during those four years. I learned a lot about myself and what I was capable of achieving.”